In his first interview, Edward Crawford tells Brian Stelter the story behind the now-iconic picture of him clutching a bag of chips in one hand and a tear gas canister in the other amid a raucous protest in Ferguson, Missouri.

The photo - taken by St. Louis Post-Dispatch photographer Robert Cohen - has been printed onto T-shirts, repurposed by artists, even plastered onto cell phone cases. On Twitter, it's been favorably compared to pictures from revolutions overseas - but also falsely cited as proof of violence committed by protesters.

"Before the photo was taken, the canister... was shot and it landed a couple of feet away from me and some children standing on the sidewalk," Crawford said.

He said he was "not throwing the canister at the police; I was merely getting the canister away from me and the kids."

Toward the end of the interview Stelter asked:

STELTER: Are you ready for the press to pack up and leave - or are you happy they're there, to shine a light on this issue?

CRAWFORD: I am happy the media is in my town, because this attention that we're getting, I just hope we turn it into something positive. With the attention, I hope our voices are heard and I hope our pain is felt by America. So, I don't want the cameras to leave. I hope they stay here as long as they can and just capture positive moments, positive protests.

soundoff(9 Responses)

Sports

Zune and iPod: Most people today look at the Zune toward the Touch, still just after watching how slim and amazingly minimal and mild it is, I look at it toward be a as an alternative unique hybrid that combines characteristics of the two the Contact and the Nano. It can be extremely colourful and magnificent OLED exhibit is somewhat scaled-down than the contact screen, but the player by itself feels Really a little bit lesser and lighter. It weighs over 2/3 as substantially, and is appreciably smaller within just width and top, When staying simply a hair thicker.

Every time I watch Brian Stelter I wonder who's kid he is or who he's related to in mgmt at the network. Clearly he got the job at CNN for some reason other than being a good anchor due to the fact that he has marbles in his mouth every time he speaks. He cuts a lot of words short or just kind of drifts through the end of some words, leaving you to fill in the blanks as you listen. Reading the news used to require the skill of enunciating every word properly. He needs a speech coach.

I bet that there were kids that late at night. If there were, then I'm sure they were Negro kids because only a Negro would be stupid enough to bring their kids out rioting with them. Probably using them as human shields same as Hamas. I bet the retard paid for those chips too. Great article CNN, really goes to show what amazing staff you have working for you. It's almost as amazing as you essentially posting a map to the cop's house.

Wow, dude, as much as you might deserve it, I hope you don't suffer the same hatred you're spewing. Sounds like you're already destroying yourself with your anger anyway. I can't really believe there are still people out there that think this way.
I hope you get better.

@Jeff Bo, The funny part is that I don't really care what you think...I actually just do this from my phone or in my spare time when I'm getting ready for this or that to alleviate boredom. I actually just started a number of other blogs too, about food, fashion, etc and just use this one to keep my writing sharp. But, I think you'd be surprised as to how many people are following this particular blog...

https://antiniggernews.wordpress.com/

August 31, 2014 at 8:17 am |

antiniggernews1

Hate? Was what I said hateful to think that parents should do better then let their kids out late at night when there's a riot happening? Then, is it hatred to say that the kids would probably be niggers since the majority of the rioters were niggers? As much as I hate to say it, ignorance is the opiate of the masses and morons like you will always outnumber people like me. While I'd love for you to be able to think critically about a situation and then give a reasoned concurrence or argument about it, we both know that all you'll do is spew liberal garbage about how this shouldn't even be called a riot, it should be called a "peaceful demonstration" that happens to have a bunch of people destroying buildings and attacking police. How it was a "mixed race" riot because you could find the 1% of the non-nigger crowd and put them on the news...of course, every shot they're surrounded by the nigger.

My parents taught me to call a spade a spade and when a nigger is acting like a nigger, I'll call him a nigger. That being said, I'm the first to offer praise when the 1 in 10 black man speaks out about the behavior of the nigger. Feel free to read my blog, you'll probably gain a few IQ points.

November 3, 2014 at 11:24 pm |

Post a comment

CNN welcomes a lively and courteous discussion as long as you follow the Rules of Conduct set forth in our Terms of Service. Comments are not pre-screened before they post. You agree that anything you post may be used, along with your name and profile picture, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and the license you have granted pursuant to our Terms of Service.

About "Reliable Sources"

Now more than ever, the press is a part of every story it covers. And CNN's "Reliable Sources" is one of television's only regular programs to examine how journalists do their jobs and how the media affect the stories they cover.

Follow us on:

About the host

Brian Stelter is the host of "Reliable Sources" and the senior media correspondent for CNN Worldwide. Before he joined CNN in November 2013, Stelter was a media reporter for The New York Times. He is the author of the New York Times best-seller "Top of the Morning."